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Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld sealed McCoy’s Premier League play-off places, leaving James Wade, Robert Thornton and Simon Whitlock to battle it out of the final top four spot after a dramatic night in Liverpool on Thursday.

van Gerwen’s victory over Andy Hamilton saw the 24-year-old reach the semi-finals on his debut season with one week of league action remaining.

And the Dutchman, who triumphed 7-4 against ‘The Hammer’, has set his sights on becoming the only player other than Phil Taylor, who has also qualified for the play-offs, to finish top of the table.

“I was always confident of making the top four but I am proud to have done it,” admitted van Gerwen, the world number two.

“Now I want to finish first. That would be a great achievement because only Phil has done it.

“It will be amazing to play in the Play-Offs at the O2 in London. I lost out in the youth final there last year so I really want to go and win the Premier League.”

van Barneveld can still catch his compatriot after enjoying a 7-4 success against Adrian Lewis in Merseyside to cement his place in the semi-finals.

Whitlock’s victory over Wade kept him in contention while Thornton can still make the top four despite losing out Taylor.

Wade, who also lost out to Hamilton, sits in the fourth and final play-off spot ahead of the last night of the league phase.

By Chris Murphy

Remaining Fixtures (Newcastle, May 9) Andy Hamilton v Adrian Lewis Robert Thornton v Raymond van Barneveld Adrian Lewis v Simon Whitlock Phil Taylor v James Wade Michael van Gerwen v Robert Thornton Simon Whitlock v Raymond van Barneveld
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